Ignition apparatus



Sept. 4, 1923.

A. HOWARD IGNITION APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 22. 1923 a w A A. HOWARD IGNITION APPARATUS Sept. 4, 1923. l;466,7 20

Filed Jan. 22. 1925 2 Sheets-Shoot 2 Patented Sept. 4, 1923.

U ITE s'rarss udnzo nowann, or cmcaco, n'uxors.

rcnrrrox 'arrmrua Application fled January 2:, 1m. Serial a. 614,059;

To all whom itmaycmwe'm:

Be it known that 1, Amino Howann, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in. the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Ignition Apparatus, of WhlCh the following is a specification. i a v a My invention relates to ignition apparatus for explosive engines, particularly those in automotive vehicles. The object of theinvention is to provide -improved construction and arrangement for producing a suc-. cession of distinct sparks at each spark plug of an engine for each charge of gas in the cylin er served-by such plug, so that full and complete explosion will result.

and eflicient parts which can'be readily assembled and applied toautomobile engines or substituted for the original ignition apparatus of the engine and which can be applied without requiring any changes in the.

construction and arrangement of the engine or the addition of any new parts.

My present invention may be considered an improvement over the invention disclosed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 57 3,401 filed July 7, 1922.

On the accompanying drawing I show my improved apparatus and its operation, the

particular apparatus shown being designed- On the drawingfor use on Ford 'cars.

Fig. 1. is a side elevational view, Fig. 2 is a plan view, I Fig. 3 is afront view, Fig. 4 is a sectional view onplane 4-4,

Fig 3, 7 I

i 5 is a front elevational view withtne four cylinders: four notches will Fig. 6 is a rear view of the distributordistri utor cap removed.

ca i

- vFig.7 is a side: elevational view of the cam member partly in section on plane 7-7,.

8 is a-diagram-showing the circuit arrangement. 1 a v The apparatus and arrangement shown on the drawing is particularly: adaptable for it could be, readily cient :use in connection withother typesof engines. The frame of the Ford engine is represented by E, and

use on Fordcars althoihgh modified for equally e C represents the cam shaft whose end extends a distance" in front of the frame to ordinarily receivethe timer which forms a part of the regular engine equipment. My improved mechanism is designed to be applied the shaft end in place of the regular ord tuner. It consists of the primary circult controlling mechanism deslgnated as a whole A, and the ignition current distributor mechanism designated as a whole 15. The housing 1 for the primary circuit controlling mechanism is cylindrical and'of a diameter to fit at its rear 'end in the cylindrlcal pocket 2 which is provided in the frame of the Ford engine concentric with the cam shaft. The base 3 ofthe housing has the central opening 4 through which the Another object of the invention is to con-' struct my apparatus of only a few simple for receiving the key 11 which locks the cam member to the shaft for rotational movement therewith, the cam member bore at-its inner end being. enlarged to receive the boss 5. .Adjacent-its inner end the cam member has the cylindrical cam flange 13' provided at its periphery with transversely extending cam notches, four such notches a, b, c, an dyb'eing shown, the notches being spaced" ninety degrees apart. The number ofnotches depends upon the number of cylin dersof the engine. A Ford on e havin provid as shown. Thehousing 1 may be of metal.

' but the cam member is of somegoodinsulat- 1 ing material as for example bakelite or redmonal. Y Y.

The cam notches a, b, c and (l cooperate with setsoficircuitcontrollers to control the rimary circuit of the ignition systemw I 1 liaveshowntwo sets of circuit controllers s 1 and .sflarrangedvat oppositesides. of the housin :1 adjacent the cam flangeandm the 1 path 0 the cam'periphery. The circuit coni troller 8 comprises a flat, spring 14 anchored at one :end to a block'15 ,thespringendseatingin achannel 1e in i. by a screw 17. The blo'ckabuts against the .11. ,eblock and-secured l wall a of the housing and against the cylindrical wall thereof and is secured by means of a screw 18. The block is thus accurately secured and the spring 14 extends-therefrom over the periphery of the cam flange and at its free end has the contact point 19 secured thereto. This contact point cooperates with clamped between the head 25 of the post an the nut 26 engaging the threaded section of the post. An insulating thimble or bushing 27 is inserted between the post and the housing so that the post will be fully insulated from the housing but electrically connected with the terminal spring or bracket 21.

Intermediate its ends the contact spring 14 has secured thereto the cam Wedge or properiod of the jection 28 which extends transversely and parallel with the cam notches a, b, 0 and d. \Vhen' the cam flange periphery between notches. is traveling under the spring in en gagement with the cam projection the spring Wlll be raised and the contact points 19 and 20 will be separated, but when a notch comes in place under the projection the projection will drop into the notch and permit the contact point to come into engagement. The notches are comparatively short and during rotation of the cam members the closure points 19 and 20 will be very short and, as will be explained later, the primary circuit of the ignition system will be closed during such engagement on the contact points to permit magnetic saturation of the induction coil so that a secondary current flow of high pressure will result when the contact points are again disengaged and the primary circuit opened. The position of the cam member on the shaft and the location of the spring 14 is such that the circuit controller 8 will be opened four times for each revolution of the cam shaft, that is, an opening for each cylinder of the engine and at the proper ignition time for such cylinder.

' Sometimes a single spark during an ignition period is not suflicient to produce full explosion, or sometimes the gases are not yet in pro r condition for explosion when the spark is produced. I therefore rovide the second circuit controller 8 whic is arranged withreference .to the circuit controller 8 to control the primary circuit for a second flow of ignition current through the same spark plug after. s arking has been produced at the plug y virtue of the controller 8, so that if the first spark does not fully and efficiently ignite the gas charge the second spark will do so. The relative operation of the circuit controllers 8 and 8' should be such that the primary windings of the induction coils will be given ample time to fully saturate the induction coils so that eflicient secondary current flow will result, but at the same time the operations of the controller should be sufficiently close together so that the sparks, particularly the follow up spark controlled by the circuit controller a" will take place sufii ciently close to the normal ignition time to cause effective and eflicient explosion. In some prior ignition systems on the market a single circuit controlling mechanism for the primary circuit is provided and during each ignition period a series of teeth cooperates with a contact spring to produce a series of sparks. In such systems the mechanical'arrangement is not efficient, because Where a row of close together teethcooperates rapidly with a spring or other movable contact member the inertia and momentum of the contact member will prevent such member from fully following the teeth and the result is that there is not a succession of distinct complete sparks but rather an imperfect spark wave of varying intensity.

With my improved apparatus I avoid this by providin the separate and distinct circuit controlIers each of which will cause the production of a full, complete and powerful spark, and with the timing of the sparks at each plugsuch that the most efiicient ignition is accomplished without the sparks in any way overlapping or interfering with each other.

The circuit controller 8' is similar to the circuit controller 8, its parts being designated by corresponding but primed reference characters. It is placed in the housing 1 diametrically opposite to the controller 8, the spring supporting block 15' being diametrically op osite block 15, and the spring 14' exten ing below the cam flange to cooperate with the terminal spring or bracket 21' which is supported against the insulating block 23' by the terminal post 24. The contact points 19' and 20' are separated except when the cam ridge or projection 28 engages in one of the cam notches. As before stated the cam notches are spaced ninety degrees apart, the notches a and I) being diametrically oppositeand the notches c and d being diametrically opposite.

Depending u on the interval of timedesired between tli eachspark plug the cam ridge 28 is offset circumferentially with reference to the cam flange 13 and relative to the cam ridge 28. With the cam member rotating in the direce two succeeding sparks at into and then out of a cam notch tovcause closure and re-opening of the circuit controller s before the cam ridge 28' willvco-r operate with the opposite cam notch to close and re-open the circuit controller 8'. '1 The respective circuit controllers are open except when the corresponding cam ridge engages momentarily in a cam notch, and one circuit controller will haveibeen -re-opened after a closure thereof before the other controller is closed. This will insure the passage of induced secondary current flow entirel through the respective spark plug and will prevent short circuitin of the, current to ground through the in uction coil primary circuit. The arm 29 extending upwardly from the housing 1 is connected n any'suitable manner with the spark lever at thesteering wheel of the machine so that thecircuit controllers can be shifted with the housing relative to the cam member to advance orretard-sparking as desired.

' The distributor member B has the cylin drical body art 30 from whose outer end the rectangu ar. projection 31 extends radially upward. At its inner end the member has the seating flange 32 which seats in the mouth of the housing 1, the housing being preferably provided with the seatin step 33 as shown in order to form a scale joint to prevent moisture and dirt; from entering into the housing 1. The member. B has the cylindrical bore 34 for receiving the outer end of the cam member 6. Extending radially in the wall of the cylindrical body 30 and terminating at the inner. face of the pocket 34 near the bottom thereof are the distributing commutator, segments 35, 36,

37 and 38 spaced ninet degrees apart, and extending axially in t e part 31 and terminating at the inner face of the pocket 34 is the segment 39. Conductor'bars 35', 36, 37 38 and 39 lead from the respective segments through the part 31 and at their upper ends are bored out to form sockets 40 for receiving the terminal pins (not shown) of the spark plug leads and other circuit conductors. stributing member B is preferably formed of some 1nsulat-- ing material such as bakelite or redmonalx moulded around the commutator segments and conductor bars, and the rojecting upper ends of the bars preferab y have collars 41 of the insulating material around them forming seats for sleeves ,(not shown) which rigidly support and protect the lead connections with the terminal pins engaging in the sockets 40. a

' In the outer end of the cam member'6 is a radially extending groove or channel 42 for receiving the distributing brush or s ring 43; The base 44 of the brush extends own the side of the cam member and is ments 35, 36, 37 and 38. The high tension jump the short gap between the brush and against lateral dis lacem'ent,'while the projected and round end 47 of the brush engages against thecentral segment 39. Durmg rotation of the cam member the'brush end will be maintained in electrical contact with this central ent while the base section 44 of the sprm will travelsuccessively past the distributing commutator seg-.

secondary current generated during operation of the circuit controllers a and s is distributed by the brush successively to the segments and from there to the res 'ctive spark plugs of the engine as will described more full in detail later. 1 To avoid friction the b'ru does not physically engage with the distributing segments and the igh tension secondary current will readily segmen a I To hold the parts-A and B securely together and the entire apparatus against the engine frame the clamping bar or spring 48 is provided. This may be the regular clamping bar or spring u'suall rovided with Ford engines to hold the or clamping mechanism in place or it may ,be a s ial bar. I have shown the ordinary ord bar, and in order that it will securely engage with the distrubutor cap and hold such cap a inst rotation during adjust ment of the ousin 1 to advance or retard the spark I glrovi e a transverse notch or channel, 49 w ich extends from the center of thecap radially and slightly diagpnally to one side thereof to so receive t e bar 48 that the cap will be held in proper position vertically. Centrally of the cap the concavity 50 is provided for receiving the convex projection 51 at the end of. the bar. After the parts of my improveddistributor are applied to the en ine the bar is aplied 1n the channel wit its end 51 engaging n the concavit 50 in the cap and the parts A and B will be securely held together, while the force of the brush spring43 will cause the cam member 6 to be securely held in its place on the end of the cam shaft.

In F1 8 and 9 I have diagrammatically shown t e a paratus and the circuit connections. In tlie arrangement of Fig. 8 two induction coils are used while in the arrangement of Fi 9 only one coil is used. For snpplyingt e necesary primary current theregular Ford magneto or any other magneto 52 can be used, or a batmry 53 may be em loyed. Through the leads 54, 55, 56 an 57 the commutator segments 35,

.winding of the coil 8' is .15 being in the tive spark plugs p of the engine cylinders Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4, one terminal of all these spark plugs being connected with the engine frame E which is grounded. In Fig. 8' I have shown two induction coils F and F each of which has a primary winding 57 and a secondary winding 58. The primary windings are connected together at one end and through conductor 59 either with the generator 52 or the battery 53. The rimary winding of the coil F is connect by conductor 60 with the terminal post 24 of the circuit controller 8, while the primary connected by conductor 61 with the terminal post 24' of the circuit controller 8. The secondary windings 58 are connected together at one end and with the conductor 59 while at their other ends these windings connect with conductor 62 which leads to the central commutator segment 39 of the distributor mechanism. The spring supporting blocks 15 and electrical contact with the hous- 1 are grounded and this is represeted by conductor 63 which is shown grounded at 64. With the positions of the part shown in Figs. 1 to 8 the cam member 6 has just brought the notch it into position to receive the cam ridge 28 to permit the spring 14 to close the contact points 19 and 20, while the cam ridge 28'of the spring 14' is just in advance of the diametrically opposite 'cam notch b. The generator 52 being connected in for service the current will flow therefrom through conductor 59, the primary winding of the coil F, conductor 60, binding post 24,

ing

terminalspring 21, spring'14, and conductor- 63 to ground, one'terminal of the generator being grounded. During the short period of closure of this primary circuit the induction coil F will be charged so that when the cir-' cuit is abruptly opened when the notch a is 7 moved away from the spring 14 an induced charge of high tension current will flow through the secondary circuit as follows: from the secondary winding of coil F through conductor 62, segment 39, brush 43,

' commutator segment 35, conductor 54 to the spark plug of cylinder No. 1, from thence to ground and "through the grounded generator 52, and through conductor 59 back to thesecondary winding. The first spark will therefore be produced at cylinder No. 1. Shortly after reopening of the primary circuit at circuit controller .9 the cam notch 12 I will receive the cam ridge 28' and circuit 1 generator. The coil Ff controller .9 will close so that the primary circuit thru coil F will be closed as follows: from the generator 52, to the primary windin of coil F, conductor 61, terminal sprin 21 contact points 19' and 20, spring 14, conductor 63 to ground, and back'to the is now charged and when the cam ridge 28 is moved out of the notch band the circuit controller 8' is circuit controllers 8 and springs 14 and 14 opened a charge of secondary current will K flow from the secondary winding of the coil F through conductor 62, se ent 39, brush 43, se ment 35, spark plug 0 cylinder No. 1, and thence .to ground and back to the secondary winding through the generator and conductor 59. Thus immediatel after the first complete and eflicient spar has been produced in cylinder No. 1 a second complete, distinct and efficient spark is produced at the same spark plug, and though each of these sparks is entirely complete and distinct the sparks are close enough together so that they occur well within the period allotted to ignition in the engine cycle and at or close to the peak of the alternating current secondary wave. The apparatus is preferably applied to the engine so that one of the circuit controllers, say 8, will function to cause the first spark at a plug at the normal time for ignition or when the ignition wave is-at its peak, and the circuit controller s, will then operate to cause the second spark after a sufficiently short interval to keep such second spark close to thewave peak. Certain conditions may interfere with propersynchronism of the sine wave with the apparatus, but even though one of the sparks should occur when the wave is at zero the other spark will occur at a. time suflicient'ly close to peak current strength that efiicient ignition will be produced.

The brush 43 and the commutator segments are of adequatearea so that the brush will present suflicient area to each distributor segment while the set of two sparks is sent to the respective cylinder plugs. This is clearly shown in connection with the ignition for cylinder No. 1 in Figs. 8 and 9. After the two sparks have been produced in cylinder N o. 1 both circuit controllers are open and the primary circuit will remain open until the next diametrically opposite notches d and a cooperate with the circuit controllers to set up the necessary sparking conditions for cylinder No. 2.

In Fig. 9 I show only one induction coil H having the primary winding 65 and the secondary winding 66. One terminal of the primary windingis connected by conductor 59 with either the generator 52 or the battery 53, while the other terminal of the winding is connected by conductor 67 and branch conductors 68 and 69 respectively with the terminal springs 21'afid'21 of the s, the contact being connected by conductor 63 with ground at 64. One terminal of the secondary winding is grounded as shown at 70 while the other terminal is connected through conductor. 71 with the center circuit controller 8 has been opened by withdrawal of the notch a from the sprlng 14. Just before such opening the primary circuit segment 39. In the arrangement shown the ing of this circuit the resulting induced st:

ondary current will flow through the spark plug of cylinder No. 1 to produce the second or follow-up s ark. One circuit controller does not function untilthe other has been reopened after a closure thereof and the secondary ,currentlhas been given time to eiiiciently produce a distinct andcomplete s ark. The two sparks should be sufiiciently c ose together so as to occur at or near the pzak of the ignition wave, but the interval tween sparks should be sufficient to permit the primary winding to fully charge the induction 0011 between the operations of the circuit controllers,

I thus produce an improved arrangement which will give a set of complete, distinct and eflicient sparks in each cylinder during its ignition period so that the most efiicient explosion results. My improved apparatus is very simple and comprises a very small number of parts which can be readily assembled and quickly applied to the engine.

I do not desire to be limited to the exact construction and arrangement shown and described as changes and modifications can be made which will still come within the scope of the appended claims.

cessively o I claim as follows:

1. In an ignition system, the combination of inductively related rimary and secondary circuits, a spark p ug connected in the secondary circuit, a sourceof current for the primary circuit, a plurality of circuit controllers for said primary circuit normally holding said circuit open, and means for sucrating said circuit controllers during eac ignition period of the engine with which the spark plug is associated, the operation of each circuit controller causing a short closure of the prima circuit and reopening thereof to cause in need current flow through the secondary circuit and said sparkplug whereby a plurality of distinct sparks is caused at said plug during each ignition period.

2. In an ignition system for explosive engines, the combination of inductively related primary and secondary circuits, a spark plug connected'in the secondary circuit, a source of current for the primary circuit, a plurality of circuit controllers connected serially in said primary circuit and in parallel with each other, said circuit controllers normally opening said primary circuit, and means for successively operating said cir cuit controllers during the ignition period of the engine'cylinderwith which the spark plug is associated, each circuit controller when operated controlling 'the' primary" circuit to cause an induced flow of current through the secondary circuit and thefs'park plug whereby a plurality of distinctsparks are caused at said plug during eaich ignion period;

3. In an ignition system, the combination of primary and secondary circuits 'induc tively related, a source of current in the primary circuit, a spark plug connected with'the secondary circuit, a cam member adapted to be driven in timed relation with the engine cylinder with which the spark plug is associated, a plurality of circuit controllers arranged around said cam member and connected with said primary circuit, said circuit controllers being normally kept open by said cam member whereby the rimary circuit is normally open, and cam ormations on said cam member cooperating successively with said circuit controllers during each ignition period of the engine to cause successive operation of said circuit controllers to control the primary circuit, the operation at each circuit controller involving a momentary closure thereof and reopening and each controller closing and reopening before the next controller is closed, whereby said primary circuit will cause a succession of induced current flows through said secondary circuit and a succession of complete, distinct and powerful sparks at said spark plug during each ignition period of the engine cylinder with which the plug is associated.

'4. The combination with an explosive engine ,having a plurality of cylinders each provided with a spark plug, of an ignition system comprising inductively related primary and secondary circuits, a source of current for the primary circuit, a cam member connected to be driven in timed relation with said engine, a plurality of circuit controllers arra d around said cam member and normally held thereby to open the primary circuit, a commutator brush carried with said cam member and connected with said secondary circuit, a plurality of distributor segments arranged around said cam member in the path of said brush, there being one segment for each-engine cylinder connected with the respective spark plug thereof, said cam member cooperating successivelv with said circuit controllers during each closure of the secondary circuit at said brush and one of said commutator segments, the operation of each circuit controller involving momentary closure thereof and reopening and one controller being reopened before the next is closed, whereby said primary cuit during circuit will cause a succession of induced current flows through said secondary cireach connection of a spark plug therein and a consequent succession of sparks at said plug-during each ignition period controlled thereby.

In an ignition system, the combination of inductively related primary and secondary circuits, a spark plug connected in the secondary circuit, a source of current for the prlmary circuit, a plurality of circuit controllers connected serially in said rimary circuit and in parallel with each ot er,

and means for successively operating said circuit controllers during each ignition period of the engine with which the spark plug is associated, each circuit controller when operated controlling the primary circuit to cause an induced flow of current through-the secondary circuit and a plurality of distinct sparks is caused at said spark plug during each ignition riod. In witness whereof, I hereunto su ribc my name this 19th day of January, A. D. 1923.-

ALONZO HOWARD,

the spark plug, whereby 

